Assessment of Cognitive and Sensorimotor Defi cits - Animal Models of Acute Neurological Injuries: Injury and Mechanistic Assessments - page 227

Fig. 1. An assortment of handmade equipment used to assess sensorimotor and neurological functions.

5. Inclined plane: The inside bottom surface of a standard-sized
rat cage is covered with fi ne sandpaper (grip tape available from
skateboarding shops is ideal). One end of the cage is mounted
with a hinge to a fl at surface so that the other end can be lifted,
and a mounted protractor is used to determine the angle of the
cage's surface.
6. Wire hang: A 20-cm length of 19-gauge (~1 mm) wire is sus-
pended horizontally 20 cm (for mice and young rats) or 40 cm
(for adult rats) over a padded surface.
7. Adhesive tape removal: Two pieces of adhesive tape for each
animal (0.3 cm × 0.4 cm for mice and young rats, 0.6 cm × 0.8 cm
for adult rats), colored blue (left paw) and red (right paw) with
permanent marker, and an empty housing cage.
8. Cylinder test: Glass cylinders ~10 cm (for mice and young rats)
to 20 cm (for adult rats) in diameter and tall enough so that
the animal cannot climb out.

1. Video camera mounted overhead.
2. One plastic storage container (e.g., Sterlite 35 gallon, painted
black for white animals and white for dark animals) approximately

2.2. Day 2 (See Fig. 2 ):
Activity Levels